Originally Published:  January 9th, 2003

You know who must get frustrated with wrestling fans? Psychologists. Can you imagine a confused social worker playing one of those "word association" games with a hardcore wrestling fan?

"Now tell me the first word that pops into your mind: Table."

"Dudley."

"Uh...dog."

"Pepper Steak."

"Cat?"

"King."

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

It's really funny how everything in this business is linked to something else. There are countless times throughout the day when a word or phrase will make me remember something about this business. But even within the confines of wrestling programming this happens. For example - the Royal Rumble always reminds me of Ric Flair.

This past week on Raw, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels stood nose to nose and recounted the Heartbreak Kid's Rumble victory of 1995. While Shawn may have been the only man to enter at number one and outlast all competitors, he wasn't the first man to truly make the Rumble his. That honor goes to the Nature Boy himself.

Now covered in eleven years worth of dust, the 1992 Royal Rumble served as the showcase for WWF fans to finally see why Slick Ric was the icon of ring generalship in the 1980s. The stipulation of this particular Royal Rumble was that the last man in the ring would be awarded the vacant WWF World Title. While Flair didn't join the fray as the number one entrant, it was just a matter of semantics. His number three position gave him all of two minutes to wait before joining the Rumble and going toe to toe with Davey Boy Smith. On that cold January night, the former Horseman shined like he never had before. Staying in the action for over 62 minutes, Ric gave the performance of a lifetime. At the end of the evening, the "Real World Champion" became the "WWF World Champion". This Rumble was a classic. It's the standard I judge all others by. It was an event I'll never forget. I'll never forget it because of one man.  Ric Flair.

The ironic footnote to all this is that one man has forgotten it. One man has lost sight of the fact that you can't rest on your laurels. One man has disregarded the philosophy of being "all the way live" and replaced it with...well, nothing. With the Royal Rumble quickly approaching, I remember 1992 as if it was yesterday. But Ric Flair himself has tucked the video away with MC Hammer tapes and other relics of a time now gone. They used to say "Whooo!"  Now they say "Who?"

A legacy is a tough thing to comprehend for a wrestler still in the spotlight. Wrestling fans are firm believers in the thought process of "What have you done for me lately?" Although no one expects Slick Ric to put on another hour long wrestling exhibition, we expect something. He didn't become an icon in wrestling because we like his hair. He became an icon in wrestling because no one could electrify a crowd both in the ring and on the microphone like Naitch.

But we haven't seen that in a while, have we? That's been something that has stuck in my throat like one of Debra's cookies for the last few months. Flair's age isn't the issue. In fact, in wrestling, age is never the issue.

The bottom line is that in order for a top performer to preserve his legacy, he needs to step away from the ring when the time is right. That time is not judged in years or days.  It's judged in passion. For the first time in a long time, Ric showed us Monday Night on Raw that he still had some left. But where did it go and when did he misplace it?

At a time when WCW Nitro was about as painful as eating a fiberglass sandwich, the Nature Boy still had it. His interviews went from calm and respectful to intensity levels that men half his age could only dream of. No matter how poor the writing or the angle he was plugged into, Flair made it his own. I remember seeing Ric strip to his underwear and handcuff himself to the ring. I bore witness to a pitiful plotline that saw him checked into a mental hospital. The writing was awful. The direction was rambling. But Ric Flair was what made me stay tuned. He did his job and when Flair was on screen, the viewers tuned in. That's a testament to a man's ability and legacy. Katie Vick? Flair would have done it and made it the best he could. Imagine the veins popping out of his overtanned forehead as he rocked in the coffin chanting "Whooo!" with each thrust. Yes, sir.  The Nature Boy I knew, was always at the top of his game.

Even when he returned to the WWF after the 2001 Survivor Series, Flair had the passion. One of the last moments that I remember before McMahon's world began spiraling out of control was Ric coming down the aisle at Raw and proclaiming to be Vince's new business partner. He was flying high and turned the North Carolina crowd inside out. The image of Vinnie Mac sticking his finger in his ear out of amazement was a classic moment. It now seems as distant as the '92 Rumble. It was only a year and a half ago.

Things got tired and the shows became weaker. Ric's ownership role was flipped, switched, turned, rotated, breaded, and eventually scrapped. His character became that of a frustrated older babyface. Fans were conditioned to believe that Flair stood no shot against today's stars. Everyone beat him (Steven Richards included). How do you break an icon away from a damaging gimmick like that? There are so many options. However, the worst possible one would be for him to turn heel and manage the one young wrestler that has gone around pointing it out. That's what they did. Hunter verbally tears down the Nature Boy for weeks leading to a pay-per-view and Flair turns and joins forces with him. "The Man" wasn't the man anymore. In fact, he was barely a man

As if all that wasn't enough, Ric cut back on his intensity during interviews (those where he actually spoke). When threatened by a wrestler, he exclaimed that Triple H would protect him. It had gotten to the point that the only similarities between the Flair of today and that of yesterday was the fact that they both had a misshapen tooth that was prominent each time they smiled.

Sometimes I wanted to run into the arena during Raw and cover the eyes of any fan under the age of 16. This isn't the Ric Flair that I grew up admiring and respecting. This was a shell of that man. All the claims that they had heard from the generation before them portrayed Flair as an icon of mythic proportion. He was the standard set for a successful heel world champion in North America. He paved a path that few could follow and none could exceed. He did it by being the best each and every night he performed. That's why someone like Slick Ric can't "phone it in". He needs to be the best because we, as fans, know that he has that ability. Whether it's on the microphone or in the ring, the Flair that I knew never settled for being an afterthought. The Nature Boy's legacy deserves more than to be tarnished with images of Ric claiming that Kane won't touch him out of fear for Hunter. I recognize that. Many fans recognize that. The worst part was that Ric didn't realize that.

Before there was an ECW to produce fans that mocked WWF programming while proclaiming their's to be the wrestling that real fans respect, there was Ric Flair. When the entire planet dropped their wallets at Hulk Hogan's feet during the 1980s, Flair was the name that fans wore like a medal. The man who came to WWE had let them (and me) down.

This past week's Raw saw the return of someone that I had missed for a while...13 time Champion of the World Ric Flair. The strut, the figure four, the deranged looking dangling hair and of course the trademark "Whooo!" signaled that for the first time in a long time the Nature Boy was a limousine riding, jet flying, kiss stealing, wheeling, dealing son of a gun no matter how old he was. I hope that Monday wasn't an isolated case. I hope we haven't seen the last of the Ric Flair we've all come to respect.

This year when I hear about the Royal Rumble, I'd like to remember that on January 19, 1992 a man performed his heart out for the entire world to witness. I'd rather not see the dispassionate, tired, and watered down face of Triple H's valet. Would you?